Circle Strafing using Xbox One Controller

[JesusRocks1988]

Hey everyone, silly question here, but it's early and I can't get my brain to wrap around the concept of bindings. I really like the default thruster keybindings for the Xbox, I find it very intuitive, and after a year or so I'm used to it... But I also want to be able to circle strafe like they can on PC. I just think it's a really cool effect, and could help especially in combat situations.

The default flight controls on Xbox don't allow for this because it requires lateral thrusters and yaw to be operating at the same time, and the default controls put lateral thrusters behind the "alternative flight controls" which disables yaw in favour of them.

Has anyone altered their controls to allow yaw and lateral thrusters to operate together? What bindings would people recommend to enable circle strafing?

I'm currently thinking of disabling roll on the left stick in favour of yaw in the alternate flight controls. Does this sound like it would work practically?

Help and discussion would be appreciated

Thanks CMDRs.

 

[mung0]

I'm currently thinking of disabling roll on the left stick in favour of yaw in the alternate flight controls. Does this sound like it would work practically?

That's precisely what I did and it works a treat. I just changed the alternative control layout so I've got horizontal thrust on one stick and yaw on the other. I call it 'helicopter mode'.

The sacrifice: roll controls aren't mapped while in this setting. But when you find yourself getting skewed, you can just flip back to normal, correct your rotation, and flip back again. Takes like a second and usually doesn't need to be done that frequently. Depends on how vigorously you're throwing the ship around mainly.

 

[DustyArne]

You can enable "Yaw on low roll" so you can yaw with your left thumbstick, and strafe with your right. This way you dont have to switch to alternative flight controls. (hell, i dont even have that option anymore).

The only times i click my right thumstick is to enable free look.

 

[UnhappyDev]

I've got all thruster inputs mapped without alternate mode, but on an XB1 Elite controller, I think it would be difficult on a default gamepad:


Lateral Thrust:Rear Paddles
Horizontal (forward/reverse) Thusters: Small Paddles
Vertical Thrust: RS up/down


I don't use throttle much, I just have mappings for 0%, 50% and 100% throttle.

 

[JesusRocks1988]

Many thanks for the replies everyone

That's precisely what I did and it works a treat. I just changed the alternative control layout so I've got horizontal thrust on one stick and yaw on the other. I call it 'helicopter mode'.

The sacrifice: roll controls aren't mapped while in this setting. But when you find yourself getting skewed, you can just flip back to normal, correct your rotation, and flip back again. Takes like a second and usually doesn't need to be done that frequently. Depends on how vigorously you're throwing the ship around mainly.

This sounds great then, I'll give this a go and see how I get on.

You can enable "Yaw on low roll" so you can yaw with your left thumbstick, and strafe with your right. This way you dont have to switch to alternative flight controls. (hell, i dont even have that option anymore).

The only times i click my right thumstick is to enable free look.

I do have "yaw in low roll" enabled, but it doesn't seem to do anything beyond being annoying when I'm just trying to correct the ship's rotation. I can't seem to get it to roll without yaw or yaw without roll. I should probably turn this off while I'm at it lol.

I've got all thruster inputs mapped without alternate mode, but on an XB1 Elite controller, I think it would be difficult on a default gamepad:


Lateral Thrust:Rear Paddles
Horizontal (forward/reverse) Thusters: Small Paddles
Vertical Thrust: RS up/down


I don't use throttle much, I just have mappings for 0%, 50% and 100% throttle.

That is certainly an interesting configuration. I have the Elite controller, but I opted for throttle controls on the paddles.

 

[UnhappyDev]

That is certainly an interesting configuration. I have the Elite controller, but I opted for throttle controls on the paddles.

For combat I mostly keep the throttle locked at 50% and use thruster contol to manoeuvre

To answer your question it is certainly possible to circle strafe laterally and vertically using an XB1 controller. It should be possible to combine the 2 inputs as well to strafe 'diagonally' but I'm still working on that (and struggling )

 

[stormyuk]

You can enable "Yaw on low roll" so you can yaw with your left thumbstick, and strafe with your right. This way you dont have to switch to alternative flight controls. (hell, i dont even have that option anymore).

How does "Yaw on low roll" work exactly, as I can't seem to find it in the Xbox manual, cheers.

 

[DustyArne]

How does "Yaw on low roll" work exactly, as I can't seem to find it in the Xbox manual, cheers.

The manual you can find online is pretty old.

In the controls menu you can enable a option "yaw on roll" And you can set how sensitive it is.

Now, if you use your left thumpstick, (roll), it first starts to yaw, and slowly moving to roll the more you push the thumbstick to the left or right. If you set it really sensitive, you can easily skip YAW, and go straight into roll.

This way, you never have to use alternative flight controls anymore, and have much more control over your ship. And the only time you have to press the right thumbstick, is to enable freelook.

But, you are a PS4 player right? You can use the controller movement to use freelook, You can strafe, AND freelook the same time.. (jelly about that).

 

[stormyuk]

Thanks for that Arne, to be honest I have never liked the motion control on the DualShock and I can imagine it will be a pain in the with ED personally screen moving all over the place due to hand movements. So don't be too jealous, I've never like the implementation in other games, I don't believe ED will convert me (But we shall see).

PS: BTW if the manual is outdated online, where is it? Is it in built to the game now on Xbox?

 

[Mole HD]

Thanks for that Arne, to be honest I have never liked the motion control on the DualShock and I can imagine it will be a pain in the with ED personally screen moving all over the place due to hand movements. So don't be too jealous, I've never like the implementation in other games, I don't believe ED will convert me (But we shall see).

PS: BTW if the manual is outdated online, where is it? Is it in built to the game now on Xbox?

It's built into this forum in the best interactive way possible for every platform

 

[UnhappyDev]

PS: BTW if the manual is outdated online, where is it? Is it in built to the game now on Xbox?

Yes...in the same way that the Linux kernel is 'self documenting'

 

[stormyuk]

It's built into this forum in the best interactive way possible for every platform

Yes...in the same way that the Linux kernel is 'self documenting'

To be honest I have found the manual quite informative, even if just for the default key binds that are listed. Its a shame its been left to die.

 

[Kyennamo]

With the Xb1 ELITE controller it is possible to have EVERY control axis covered with ZERO need for alternate controls (i dont even have a button for alt anymore)You can also have FULL throttle control AND hotkeys for -50, 0, 50 and 100 throttle. The control it affords you is practically hotas level (i should know. I use a hotas on PC)

Once you try it and see the freedom it gives you, it is impossible to go back.

I am not gonna bother to post it here. Opinions are like A holes......but if you want my control config feel free PM me. The 5 people i have shared it with so far absolutely love it.

P.s. did i mention it also allows for full pip control without ever moving your thumbs from the sticks during combat?

- - - Updated - - -

That is certainly an interesting configuration. I have the Elite controller, but I opted for throttle controls on the paddles.

You are already half way there then. My config would require very little "retraining "

 

[MattySoho]

Kyennamo, on your setup is there still room somewhere for stuff like fighter commands, select wingman/s target, etc? If so that would be ideal even for the big ships.

 

[mung0]

Comes down to personal choice but I would strongly recommend against having yaw into roll switched on.

It was on by default (or at least it was when I got the game back in gpp), but it was the first option I hunted down to turn off. It hinders your ability to do tight rolls in dogfights, that's a big no-no in my book. When I want yaw, I press yaw.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

With the Xb1 ELITE controller it is possible to have EVERY control axis covered with ZERO need for alternate controls (i dont even have a button for alt anymore)You can also have FULL throttle control AND hotkeys for -50, 0, 50 and 100 throttle. The control it affords you is practically hotas level (i should know. I use a hotas on PC)

Once you try it and see the freedom it gives you, it is impossible to go back.

I am not gonna bother to post it here. Opinions are like A holes......but if you want my control config feel free PM me. The 5 people i have shared it with so far absolutely love it.

P.s. did i mention it also allows for full pip control without ever moving your thumbs from the sticks during combat?

- - - Updated - - -



You are already half way there then. My config would require very little "retraining "

PM sent.

 

[Theory318]

I have my controls set up like this. In normal flight pitch/roll are on my left stickand yaw is on the right stick. clicking the left stick changes me to alt flight contolds to which laterals are then on the right stick and pitch/roll is still on the left stick. I click the right stick down for head motion. this allows me to have my pitch/roll and yaw on 2 separate sticks in normal flight controls and have my laterals and pitch/roll on separate sticks in alt flight controls. hope this helps. o7 commander
edit bc i was directionally impaired lol

 

[JesusRocks1988]

So I've tried a few different configurations...

I like Mung0's way, and the original easy way I thought of initially, until I realised it's a great method as long as you don't need to correct your ship's rotation at the same time. I found that pitched to the ground, circle strafing didn't keep you level with lateral thrust and yaw alone; I needed to add roll in there somewhere as well.

Kyennamo's method was, wow, quite extensive and a lot to take in all at once, but I agree with him that using the two left or two right paddles for left and right lateral thrust felt right. But I'm not bothered about the pip controls or taking my fingers off of the sticks, I was just looking to improve my flight control.

So this is what I've done:

In Xbox Elite Controller settings:
- LB + RB Unmapped
- Left Top Paddle mapped to LB
- Right Top Paddle mapped to RB
- Left and Right Bottom Paddles both mapped to LS-Click

In Elite Dangerous Controls
- Back/Forward Throttle mapped to LB/RB
- Alternate Flight Control Toggle unmapped
- Left Lateral Thrust mapped to LS-Click+LB
- Right Lateral Thrust mapped to LS-Click+RB
- Yaw into Roll switched off

This removes my need to use alternate flight controls whatsoever and keeps all the rest of my controls the same as they were before.